Unintentional
by HopeCoppice
Summary: Bertrand and Robin have been bloodbound for some time now, but they're still struggling with the consequences of Bertrand's past - and the world still has plenty of new challenges to throw at them. Slash. Sequel to Unexpected, Expectation and Unsuspecting.
1. Chapter 1

**I can't believe it's taken me so long to get round to this. Sorry, guys! Thanks to anyone who's still around to read this story, which follows on from Unexpected, Expectation and Unsuspecting (in that order). Just a short chapter to get things going, but I do have a fair bit written that I'll be working through in the next few weeks/months (I don't know how much work all of it will need).**

 **It's B/R slash, obviously, and will continue to have trigger warnings for sexual content, past sexual abuse/rape, and trauma. I hope you enjoy it, and please do let me know your thoughts!**

 **Disclaimer: None of this belongs to me - the show wouldn't have survived it!**

Robin du Fortunesa felt his face set into an expression of grim resignation as he and his husband landed. The house was a wreck, but they had no choice but to go in. The family who'd lived here might still be present. Some of them might even still be undead. They could only hope - after all, perhaps there had been some warning before the structural damage they could see had occurred.

Walking through the door - uninvited, but that meant nothing in a vampire home - they spread out a little, moving apart to cover more ground, to cover each other's backs. By the time they passed through the open doors of the great banqueting hall, however, it was clear that the place was deserted. Robin began prowling the edges of the room, staying in the shadows as Bertrand had always taught him, while his husband ignored his own advice and strode to the centre of the room before stopping short.

"We're too late."

Bertrand didn't seem to hear him, staring down as if his eyes were glued to something Robin couldn't see, behind a pile of rubble. Robin approached, curious. Just as his gaze finally fell on the bundle safely preserved in a shaft of sunlight... the baby began to cry.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi everyone! Thanks so much for all the kind reviews and excitement! I'm sorry it took me so long to update again - I've written a lot of this story, but I left the beginning as a problem for future!Hope. So some of this has been written for ages, and some was a case of filling it in between the bits I had written. Hopefully it reads OK and it won't be so long until I update next (although I'm still catching up to myself, so please bear with me.**

 **Disclaimer: Not mine.**

* * *

" _ **We're too late."**_

 _ **Bertrand didn't seem to hear him, staring down as if his eyes were glued to something Robin couldn't see, behind a pile of rubble. Robin approached, curious. Just as his gaze finally fell on the bundle safely preserved in a shaft of sunlight... the baby began to cry.**_

* * *

His eyes snapped up to his lover's, but Bertrand wasn't even looking at him, he wasn't even blinking, just staring down at the infant with an expression Robin couldn't immediately place. He frowned; there was sorrow there, sympathy for this lost child whose family, if Robin wasn't very much mistaken, lay in forlorn little piles around the room. But there was something else, and as Bertrand suddenly lunged forward and lifted the child carefully into his now-smoking arms, Robin realised it was something akin to longing.

He yanked Bertrand further into the shadows and began patting out the flames, reaching around the baby to do it.  
"Shhh, you're safe," he soothed gently, and he didn't really know whether he was talking to the little foundling or the smouldering vampire, "you're safe." The baby quieted for a moment, staring up at him with big, dark eyes, before thumping a tiny fist against Bertrand's chest and beginning to whimper again.  
"What do we do?" He hadn't heard Bertrand sound so utterly bewildered in a long while, but the infant cradled in his arms was now tangling a hand into his jacket, apparently content to cling there.  
"I... I guess sweep the place for survivors – more survivors – and head home to report to Vlad when it gets dark?" The older vampire nodded.

Not for the first time in recent hours, Robin cursed. They'd had to do a lightning-speed dash between the homes of about thirty of Vlad's allies after a threat was called in, but of course they'd only landed at the scene of this dustbath a scarce few minutes before dawn. This family hadn't even been on their danger list, their home just a convenient place to wait out the sun; Vlad had thought they were anonymous enough to be left unharmed. Vlad had been wrong.

Bertrand explained the discrepancy easily enough, once they were settled in the cellar. It had been locked, but Robin had managed to kick it in while Bertrand hung back with the baby.

"We should have known, really. No vampire calls in a threat in _advance._ You saw the damaged ceiling, the piles of dust - they were all killed yesterday, long before we got here. They probably never even had a chance to realise the roof was being destroyed. And this... child, this child can't be very old at all. I expect the mother, at least, couldn't have run far if she'd tried."

Robin reached out to touch the child's cheek - she'd stopped crying, thankfully, settling down to the occasional whimper - and sighed. "You saw the mirror in that little room? The smashed one?"

"Yeah. It was the Capello Blood Mirror, I'm afraid. This child must be the first Capello to be born in 300 years... they'd all have been killed. We need to get it back to Vlad."

"It?"

"I'm not checking inside its nappy." He sniffed and pulled a face. "Oh, no. Somebody probably should, shouldn't they?"

Between them, they managed to work out a kind of temporary nappy changing solution using the contents of their first aid kit - something Robin insisted on carrying if only because his mum would want him to, and which had turned out to be surprisingly useful in a variety of situations - and settled back down to wait out the sun.

"At least it's winter," Bertrand tried, shifting the newly-clean baby in his arms slightly, "shorter days."

"Do you want me to hold her?" They'd discovered that much about her, at least, which made things a bit less awkward. They couldn't keep calling her 'it', after all. "Your arms must be tired."

"I'm not that old and feeble yet," Bertrand protested, and then sighed. "But I wouldn't mind the chance to stretch a bit, if you're sure."

"Yeah. Just... make sure I've got her before you let go."

The child felt surprisingly heavy as her weight finally settled in his arms, yet so tiny and light that it boggled the mind. How could something so small possibly be alive, and human? Well, vampire, anyway. Little as she was, this child was a _person_. That was just too much to take in, for a moment. Robin stared down at the baby, watching her breathe, reluctant to take his eyes off her. She was the only survivor of this blasted, pointless, exhausting mission, and she had to make it out of here. Saving her was quite literally the least he and Bertrand could do, and now also the most.

Bertrand probably thought he didn't notice him slipping out of the door, but Robin noticed. He trusted Bertrand to cling to the shadows - it was, after all, one of the many things he did best. Meanwhile, Robin was on guard.

* * *

Bertrand should have realised earlier that the child would need basic care. He'd been stunned, distracted by the sheer enormity of his discovery, the almost unbelievable chance that had brought them to the infant's aid just at the moment that she most needed rescue. The way he felt about it all. Stunned, yes; but that was no excuse. He needed to pull himself together, or the baby would be no better off with them than she would have been alone in her patch of sunlight among the wreckage of her home.

It was safer to wander through the house now, in daylight, than it would have been at night - just as long as he stuck to the shadows. In places, that was impossible, so he had to try a couple of different routes before he finally found a clear way to the kitchens. He just had to hope that this family had stuck to vampiric tradition - noblewomen had never been much for feeding their children from their own bodies, and vampiric custom eschewed wet-nursing, so there should be some kind of milk substitute in storage for the little Capello child. It took a few minutes, but at last he came across some kind of formula, thankfully labelled with instructions for making it all up, and handily situated next to a collection of empty feeding bottles. Bertrand could follow instructions.

It took him considerably less time to get back to the cellar, now that he knew the route. Before long, he had an arm back around his beloved Robin, reaching to offer the bottle to their newfound temporary charge. The baby seemed to know what she was doing, which was a relief, her little hands flailing as she took the bottle into her mouth and began to feed. Within moments, her face had unscrunched a little bit and she looked almost peaceful.

"Poor thing," Bertrand murmured and moved closer to Robin. "She must have been starving."

"But she stopped crying," Robin pointed out, "surely if she'd been that hungry, she'd have kept crying."

"Maybe she was too tired, or..." _Too weak._ Bertrand couldn't quite bring himself to say that, somehow. "We were nearly too late."

"I didn't even think of getting her food. Blood, if it had just been me, she'd be dead."

"Well, she's _not_." Bertrand took the child out of Robin's unresisting arms and held her up so he could see her properly. "See?" As if to prove his point, the baby started making noises of complaint as the bottle fell from her mouth, and Robin grabbed it to give it back to her.

"OK, OK. Sure. Let's just... sit this out, and we'll get her to Vlad as soon as possible. He's got to know someone who can do babies, right?"

"Some kind of nurse, probably, yeah. It'll be fine, won't it, little one?"

They sat, curled together around the child, to wait for several more long hours - and a couple of nappy changes - until finally, at long last, they felt the sun beginning to set.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello all, sorry for the delay - I've been ill and between that and trying to hold things together at work (with mixed results) I haven't got a lot of writing done. Hopefully this isn't too much of a filler chapter - the bits I've already written kick in after this so any delays will be in editing. Thanks for your reviews - they're always appreciated.**

 **Disclaimer: Not mine!**

Robin waited impatiently for Bertrand to return from his supply run to the kitchen - no doubt he was also double-checking that the sun had really set - and sighed miserably. He supposed he should consider himself lucky there was still some stuff left in that first aid kit that could be used for nappy changing. Still, it wasn't the most pleasant of jobs, and Bertrand should have been back by now, surely? He'd changed the poor child and watched her fall asleep again before Bertrand finally strolled in.

"Found a holdall with some stuff in it that must be hers, I think. Either way, it'll come in useful. Real cloth nappies, if we can find someone who knows how to use them. It'll make things easier on Vlad."

"We should call him, now. I mean, I know you didn't want to worry him earlier-"

"Have you changed her nappy again?" Bertrand had plucked the baby out of Robin's arms and was inspecting her carefully. "That's very neat, well done."

"Yeah. Well, sit with her for a moment, I'm going to call Vlad so he can get some kind of medical team in. Oh, god, it's probably going to be Jonno's lot. The Slayer's Guild medics are closest."

"Spencer? Oh, he drives me up the wall."

"Well, maybe they'll send Alice instead. But either way, we need their help. This baby needs their help."

"Yeah. Go on, then, and I'll see if I can tuck her into my coat more securely so we can fly safely."

Robin made his phone call - Vlad had plenty of questions about his request for _someone who knew what to do with babies,_ but Robin left them unanswered - and then returned to Bertrand to find the baby haphazardly strapped to his chest, his arms folded protectively around her.

"Human-form flying, then?"

"I'm afraid so." Bertrand sounded grave; he knew Robin preferred to fly as a bat, so they didn't have to worry about being spotted.

"Has to be done."

"Unless you fly as a bat and I-"

"No, no. Together, or not at all. Come on."

It was a relief, all the same, to stumble onto the lawns of Vlad's mansion. Home was temptingly close, and if circumstances had been different they might have gone home and phoned in their report. It had been a bitterly disappointing end to their mission, after all, and Robin didn't relish the thought of relaying it all to Vlad. Bertrand, however, didn't even falter, striding straight towards the doors of the main house. A year ago, he would have been a wreck as he cut through the tree-lined avenue and emerged once more at the steps of the house, but he barely seemed to notice his surroundings now.

They made their way to the throne room without even pausing to greet the various guards who called out to them. Bertrand flung open the doors to the throne room and began barking orders, quite unlike his usual quiet, quiescent self.

"Where's the nurse, a doctor, whoever you've called, this child is severely malnourished and without a Blood Mirror. She's probably cold. She needs help!"

Spencer and Alice from the Slayer's Guild had whisked the child away to some predetermined location before even Robin's vampire-quick vision could anticipate the movement.

Bertrand slumped slightly and turned to Vlad.

"We're back, Grandness."

* * *

It was a long night, and subsequent day, for Bertrand. Once their report had been given, there was nothing to do but wait for news of the child. Vlad had dismissed them, but Bertrand hadn't been able to bear the thought of sleeping until he knew if they'd truly saved her. After a few hours, word came that she had stabilised and they'd know more about her prognosis in some hours, and Vlad insisted that they return to their cottage, but Bertrand slept only fitfully at Robin's side, waking up over and over only to realise that the telephone wasn't actually ringing.

Indeed, Robin had been awake for some time before the telephone actually rang with news. Bertrand left him to his breakfast and raced for the phone.

 _"Bertrand. Good news about the kid, you must have got to her just in time. She's fine. Can you and Robin come up to the house? I want to just run through a few details of your report with you, and I could use your help in determining what might happen next. Other clans may be at risk."_

"Of course we'll come. You're sure she's alright?"

 _"Seems fine. She screamed the house down earlier, nothing wrong with her lungs - she was hungry, of course. I had to dig out some of the heirlooms."_

"Good. I'm glad to hear it. Let me get some food into Robin-"

 _"As if he ever needs help with that."_

"-and we'll be right with you."

It was a simple enough debriefing, really, and once they'd filled in a few blanks and confirmed the details of their mission for Vlad, he let them go. Robin turned towards the door right away, obviously still in need of sleep or perhaps hoping for a proper homecoming celebration, but Bertrand hesitated. There was still one thing he needed to know.


	4. Chapter 4

**Alright, people - new chapter for you because I just submitted my original novel to the publishers and I feel like sharing some joy. Hopefully this will bring you joy! Also, I just got a whole load of free time from nowhere, so I hope to be updating a little more often!**

 **Disclaimer: Not mine!**

"What happens to the child?" Robin paused in the doorway, only realising that Bertrand wasn't beside him when he spoke. He turned back in time to see Vlad shrug, running a weary hand down his face.  
"I don't know. I'll try to find a clan to take the poor kid in, add her to their Blood Mirror, all that stuff." Bertrand glanced back at Robin, and just for a moment the look in his eyes was all too clear. Robin shook his head minutely.  
"Come on, Bertrand, we'll go and check on her."

Bertrand trailed out behind him like a kicked puppy, apparently unprepared for Robin to suddenly drag him into the next room along the corridor the moment the throne room door swung shut.

"Are you serious?" The older vampire hung his head.  
"I just- it was just a thought. It's alright, I understand-"  
"I didn't know you wanted kids."  
"I don't. Well. I mean, it's not a big deal."  
"What if _I_ wanted them?"  
"Well, then yeah, I'd be happy to add a little bundle of fangs to the clan, but you _don't_."  
"Maybe I do. It's all just a bit sudden. But... part of the clan thing is legal adoption, yeah?" Bertrand nodded slowly, the first glimmers of hope shining in his eyes. Robin punched him gently in the arm and pulled him back out of the room. "Come on. Let's see how she's doing. We can talk more when we get home."

* * *

Bertrand wanted nothing more than to get home as fast as possible and find out what Robin was actually talking about, but he found himself lingering by the baby's borrowed crib instead.  
"Hey, little one." He glimpsed Robin smiling out of the corner of his eye and hastened to cover his mistake. "She looks exhausted, poor thing. Rough few days. Do you think she'll be happy with her new family?"  
"Yeah, I mean, she won't remember the old one, probably. Poor kid."  
"Do you think she'll end up with a good clan? One that'll treat her like their own?" He was fussing with her blankets, now – anything to avoid looking at Robin. The younger of the pair stepped closer, placing a steadying hand on Bertrand's arm.  
"Vlad won't put her with anyone unsuitable." And then, after a slight hesitation during which Bertrand realised he really shouldn't be tucking the random orphan in and abandoned the endeavour, "Come home with me and we'll talk."

Bertrand stared at him, but Robin simply reached around to tuck in the last corner of blanket his husband hadn't managed, then took his hand and led him from the temporary nursery.

* * *

They walked home slowly, hand in hand; Robin's mind was racing. Bertrand had clearly taken to the kid – who could have predicted that? - and she did, after all, need a home... But that didn't mean _they_ should take her, did it? He didn't know the first thing about being a parent, except that it made you old – _you are nearly thirty, though, Robin, and Bertrand's got centuries on you_ – and yeah, he'd always thought he'd like kids one day but he hadn't really thought about the possibility of it happening _now_. The great thing about being two men who loved each other was that adding someone into that little family unit took _time_ and _thought_ and _planning_ – accidental kids weren't supposed to be a problem.

But... looking at Bertrand, at the way his expression had changed and his movements had softened every time he'd come near the baby – well, he'd never seen Bertrand like that before. He hadn't realised how good Bertrand was with children; he'd never seen him around anyone younger than Wolfie had been when they'd first met. Now he thought about it, he _had_ always taken good care of Wolfie. Watching his cool-headed, calculating husband smouldering in the sunlight for no other reason than to bring a perfectly UV-proof child a little comfort, well. It did funny things to his insides.

That was no reason to rush into anything, though. They had to think this through, for the poor kid's sake as much as their own. They couldn't just give her back, after all. His stomach turned over at the mere thought of taking the baby in just to abandon her again. But then... if they didn't take her, who would? Some elitist vampire clan with sixteen biological heirs all trying to kill each other, who'd always see her as the cuckoo in the nest? They'd found her, they'd rescued her; Robin couldn't help but feel that they were at least a little responsible for her, now.

"Bran?" They were in their living room – when had that happened? - and Bertrand was looking at him curiously. "What's the frowny face for?" He shook his head, still trying to work out what the strange feeling in his chest was. He felt his jaw drop as his hand shot out to grab Bertrand's arm, ensuring he had his full attention, looking him right in the eyes and doing his level best not to sound as terrified as he felt about the epiphany he'd just had.  
"Bertrand... I think... I want to have a baby with you."


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello! Sorry for the delay. Here's the next chapter - enjoy, and please feel free to read and review!**

* * *

 _"_ _ **Bertrand... I think... I want to have a baby with you."**_

* * *

"Oh, blood." Bertrand pressed a gentle kiss to his husband's lips, only partly to stop him biting them. "Really?"  
"Yeah. I mean... we found her, she already feels a little bit like our responsibility, and..." Robin hesitated, "you'd be a really good dad." He knew he was beaming at the compliment, and Robin smiled back, but they couldn't just rush into this. Now that Robin seemed to have lost his mind too, one of them had to pretend to be reserved and sensible, and it would have to be Bertrand.

"We've got to be sure before we go to Vlad. Can we call your parents?" Robin glanced at his watch before apparently remembering that his dad didn't work all day any more.  
"Yeah, they'll be in... why?" Bertrand rubbed tiredly at his eyes.  
"They're sensible and they might have some advice for us. Besides, they'd have been expecting some warning before we gave them grandchildren..." He watched Robin closely as he said it, searching for any sign that Robin was alarmed by the phrasing, but Robin just took a deep – completely wasted – breath and started dialling numbers.  
"I doubt we'll get _any_ sense out of Mum once you've said the word _grandchildren_... I'll put them on speaker."

After three rings, the call connected.  
"Hello?"  
"Hi, Mum," they chorused. It had been strange, at first, calling Mrs Branagh 'Mum' when she was almost four centuries younger than him, but Bertrand had adjusted to his place in the family and Elizabeth, for her part, didn't seem to have noticed the irony.  
"You're on speaker," Robin continued. "We, um, wanted to talk to you and Dad, if he's around?"  
"Hang on, love, he's here, let me just- Robin and Bertrand. How do you-?" There was a beep, and then Graham's voice.  
"What's wrong, boys?" Robin took a deep breath, and Bertrand squeezed his hand.  
"We might accidentally be having a baby," he blurted out. Bertrand quickly cut in, over Graham's confusion and Elizabeth's squealing, to explain the circumstances.

"And she's got to live _somewhere_ , and... we, um. That is to say, I... I'm quite fond of the girl-"  
"Oh, Bertrand, sweetheart, you rescued her, there's bound to be some affection there. Do you actually _want_ kids, the pair of you?" He hesitated, glancing at Robin, but it seemed Robin no longer had any such doubts, answering his mother's question without a second's pause.  
"Yeah." He met Bertrand's eye. "Yeah, we do. But do you think we can handle it?" There was a moment of chuckling on the other end of the phone.  
"If Ian and Paul have both managed to raise their little rascals so far without dropping them on their heads, you two have nothing to worry about." Graham sounded so certain; Bertrand wished he was as confident.  
"So," Elizabeth interrupted, "who do you have to persuade? Vlad, is it?" Robin nodded; Bertrand took it upon himself to translate that into an audible response.  
"Yeah, he's the one trying to place her with a clan. Hers has been completely wiped out and their Blood Mirror was in pieces when we got there- oh, er, sorry. That means unless she's adopted into a clan and added to their mirror, she'll never become a full vampire. She'd burn in the sun when she came of age, but no powers; it's not something I'd wish on anyone. Ingrid avoided her reflection for two days, apparently, and she's always said it was a nightmare."  
"And you're absolutely sure you want to take in this little girl?" Graham seemed concerned, but the more they were asked the question, the clearer their answer became.  
"...Yeah." He looked at Robin, who echoed him with a kind of stunned awe.  
"Yeah, we're sure."  
"Well then, we can't wait to meet her." Bertrand could almost _hear_ the smile in Mrs Branagh's tone. "Now, you boys should probably go and set things rolling. Call us and let us know what Vlad says, won't you?"

After they'd exchanged pleasantries and hung up, Bertrand found himself with his arms full of Robin.  
"Fog, B, are we really going to have a baby?" He pressed a kiss to his husband's forehead.  
"If you want, Bran. Only if you want to." He felt the gentle press of lips against his neck in return.  
"Let's go and talk to Vlad, then."

* * *

"I really don't have time for jokes right now, Robin, I have to find an _actual_ family for this kid."  
"I'm not joking. _We're_ not joking." He reached out and squeezed Bertrand's hand for support. "We're asking to take her home with us." The Grand High Vampire just stared at him as if he'd lost his mind.  
"...You're serious?" He managed at last, and they nodded. Vlad thought for a moment. "Bertrand, could you go and fetch the kid? The guards will probably insist on coming; let them." Bertrand glanced uneasily at Robin before leaving with a small bow.

His unease, as it turned out, was not unfounded. The moment the door closed, Vlad turned back to him, demanding answers. "What the hell, Robin? Since when do you want kids?"  
"I've always wanted kids, Vlad, just not necessarily right away. But Bertrand and I found her, and we've been together ten years, and I think we'd be a good family. You know us. Do you really think we'd be such horrible parents?"

Vlad faltered.  
"No, of course not- that's not what I- _parents_ , though, Robin. This is insane. You have to see that."  
"Why did you send Bertrand away? So you could bully me out of it? You can just say no, you know-"  
"Because I get why Bertrand's doing this, he doesn't have a family and he's wanted one for four centuries. You're twenty-eight years old, Robin, you've got forever to have kids."  
"You didn't spend a day hiding from the sun with the poor kid. You didn't see Bertrand with her. Besides, think of how good it could be for her. Heir to a clan, no biological children to compete with, two... two _dads_ who-"  
"Yes, Robin?"  
"...Look, I know she's just a baby and we hardly know anything about her, but Bertrand set himself on fire just to give her a cuddle when she started to cry, and... and I think I would have done the same thing if he hadn't got there first. We don't want her stuck in some family of stuffy coffin-lodgers hoping to win your favour, who'll treat her like she's not worth as much as them. She's our responsibility, and... and we want her to stay that way."

There was a knock at the door, and Bertrand came in with the baby cradled against his chest, Lesauvage trailing half-heartedly behind them. He made his way to Vlad and offered to hand her over, but the Grand High Vampire waved him off, eyes darting between his two friends and the child.  
"You do have a spare room, I suppose... and a Blood Mirror, you're legally entitled to adopt if you want to... Are you absolutely sure about this? We can only put off adding her to a mirror for a few months at the most, or her reflection won't grow with her, and once she's added-"  
"We can't back out. We know." Vlad held out his hands at last, taking the little girl from Bertrand and gazing down at her.  
"I can't believe you two are going to be parents. You make me feel old."

Bertrand opened his mouth to retort, but a thin wail pierced the air and Lesauvage disappeared from the throne room, no doubt to fetch some of the milk formula they'd acquired as soon as it became apparent that there would be a baby in the house for a few days. Vlad stared at the source of the noise, clearly at a loss for what to do, and Robin took pity on his old friend.  
"Here, let me." He gently relieved the ruler of his cargo, holding her against his own shoulder and bouncing her slightly. "Shhhh, 's alright, you remember us, don't you? We came and got you from your old house when it got all broken, and you fell asleep on me just like this. Yeah, you remember, don't you? You're OK, you're safe with us." The baby was indeed quietening, one wobbly hand coming up to grab Robin's ear. He frowned. "Yeah, you did that too. Little terror."

* * *

Bertrand was taken aback by the fondness in Robin's voice, and a glance at Vlad revealed him to be equally perplexed.  
"You lot are too adorable, it's sickening," he pronounced at last. "Alright, I was going to get you to look over these papers anyway, Bertrand, you might as well just sign them."

He scanned them quickly, absent-mindedly reaching over to coax the child's grip away from Robin's ear. He'd intended to rub the affected area better, but found his finger trapped in a tiny fist instead. Only when Robin shifted the baby into a more comfortable position did he get an opportunity to reclaim his hand and inspect the paperwork properly. It was a fairly standard looking foster care arrangement, putting the baby into the custody of the signatories on a trial basis. There was only one field that Bertrand could see being problematic.  
"It seems fine. But we don't know the baby's name." Vlad shrugged.  
"If you're going to take her in, you may as well name her. Take your time, though, we can just put in 'Baby Capello' for now. If you actually go through with adopting her she'll become a du Fortunesa, of course." Bertrand shrugged, holding the papers up for Robin to read. When he'd scanned them and nodded, Bertrand set about filling them in and signing them before relieving Robin of the baby so he could add his name.

Vlad watched them with a frown.  
"You're serious."  
"You've already asked us that." The baby began to whimper softly and Robin automatically reached up to cover Bertrand's hand on her back, stroking softly in reassurance before returning to the form.  
"But... really? You're going to just take the baby in?"  
"Well, yeah. It's a temporary thing for now, it's not like we've committed to the full half-century-"  
"-But you might."  
"Yeah." Vlad stared for a moment longer, then took the papers back and signed his name to approve their request as Lesauvage came back with a bottle of warmed milk formula.  
"Then I suppose you'd better borrow the things she's been using. Until you can go shopping."


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry for the delay! I've been off my computer for a while, and this was sat on it waiting to be uploaded. I hope you enjoy it. Reviews, as ever, are highly appreciated.**

* * *

It wasn't until Vlad left, having brought the baby over and kept an eye on her while they hauled the borrowed cot up to the spare room, that they really realised what had just happened. Robin, who'd had their new foster-daughter placed in his arms as Vlad made his escape, sat down on the sofa with a thump, staring at the bundle in his lap.  
"Alright?" He glanced up to find Bertrand peering at him in obvious concern.  
"Yeah, just... all very sudden, I guess. Bit mad. Good though." His husband settled beside him on the sofa and wrapped an arm around him, pressing a kiss into his hair without ever taking his eyes off of the baby. "She needs a name."  
"Didn't your parents have all those books, when Ian and Brenda couldn't decide what to call Breanne?"  
"Yeah. Yeah, we can probably find something in there-" The baby started wailing, and both vampires were glad they didn't need to breathe as they realised why. "-your turn?" Robin offered hopefully, thinking of the way he'd changed the kid's nappy right before they left the ruins of her home.  
"I'll change her. You call your parents and bring them up to speed. And see if we can go over and borrow those books after dark?" He plucked the baby right out of Robin's arms and disappeared in search of nappies, leaving Robin to marvel at this rather bizarre turn of events. It took him a moment to snap out of it and reach for the phone.

"Mum, do you, um... do you still have all those books of baby names?" He had to hold the handset away from his ear for a full minute. "Mum, calm down, we're just fostering her at the moment, to see how we get on, but, yeah, we get to name her because nobody knows what her family called her. She's only about a week old, poor thing, no wonder they all couldn't hide fast enough when they came under attack, her mother must have been- yeah, anyway, B's just upstairs changing a nappy now but we thought maybe we could come and see you when it starts getting dark?" It would have been more convenient to invite them over, but they'd long ago instituted a policy of not bringing more breathers onto the estate than they could help. "Alright. See you at... hmm, eight should be alright? OK. Oh, got to go, here comes the smelly one. And he's got the baby." He hung up and burst out laughing at the wounded expression on Bertrand's face as he stood at the bottom of the stairs. And then, before he knew it, the three of them were sitting on the sofa, the littlest vampire snuffling contentedly in Robin's arms once more and Robin wrapped firmly in Bertrand's.

"We've got a baby," Bertrand murmured at last, "this is... Bran, I didn't guilt you into this, did I?"  
"You're persuasive, B, with your puppy dog eyes. But you're not _adopt-a-child_ persuasive." He shrugged. "I didn't like the thought of throwing her to the wolves." They sat together for a long while, talking in low voices as the little girl slumbered.  
"How long do we have to wait before we leave for your parents'?"  
"Mm, half an hour or so. Why?"  
"I'm going to put some nappies and formula and a bottle in the bag, just in case."  
"Good plan. Spare clothes, too."  
"Great. I'll get some blankets as well – she'll still feel the cold, poor thing. You'd better book us out a car, while you're down here." Bertrand disappeared upstairs and Robin carefully made his way over to the phone with minimum jostling of his tiny new friend. No, not friend. _Daughter_.

He hoped that would stop feeling weird eventually.

* * *

Robin driving meant that Bertrand got to hold the baby. Strictly speaking, she should have been in a special baby seat, but they didn't have one yet, so Robin was driving really slowly and Bertrand was braced and ready to use himself as a human(ish) shield. Still, unaccustomed to car travel, she was making heart-rending little whimpering sounds every time they turned a corner. Afraid that Robin would get distracted, Bertrand prodded her gently in the nose with his little finger to distract _her_. It worked for a moment – just a moment – before they took another turn and her little face scrunched up again. Bertrand pressed his finger to her lips, joking as much as anything, and was surprised when she latched onto it with her mouth and, thus occupied, stopped fussing.

Robin glanced across to see why she'd gone quiet.  
"Neat trick." Bertrand frowned, nodding.  
"We'll have to remember that one." She remained peaceful for the rest of the journey, which was thankfully short. The Branaghs were on the doorstep when the car pulled up, and as Robin opened the door a snatch of conversation drifted in.  
"Now, really, Elizabeth, there's no reason we couldn't have waited _inside_ -"  
"Oh, hush, I'm too excited to wait!"

The two vampires exchanged looks and Robin got out of the car first, giving Bertrand a moment to brace himself before following. This was wise, as Elizabeth made a beeline for him, ignoring Robin's attempts to get a hug.  
"Oh, isn't she _lovely_? Congratulations, both of you, oh, Robin-" she finally noticed her son hovering beside her and wrapped him in a crushing embrace. "My little Robin, a father. I can't believe it!" Bertrand took advantage of her brief distraction to throw himself past Graham and into the house, the baby still safely swaddled in his arms.  
"Sorry, son. She's been like it since you rang earlier. I'm sure she'll calm down once she's seen her." He raised an eyebrow and Mr Branagh chuckled. "Alright, no, but at least she'll channel it into helping you find names." Before they could say anything else, Elizabeth was back, giving Bertrand a careful hug.  
"Can I hold her for a bit?" He passed her over, left Robin hovering anxiously nearby, and went to stop Graham from pulling a heavy box of books out from under the table. When he straightened up from performing the task himself, it was just in time to see the baby being passed over into her new granddad's hands.  
"She's tiny, isn't she?"

Halfway through the long version of Bertrand's explanation of the circumstances that had led to them acquiring such a small child, the baby opened her mouth and began to wail.  
"Well, she's got some lungs on her-"  
"Probably hungry," Robin assured him, and began rummaging in the bag Bertrand had brought for a bottle. Bertrand was surprised when his mother-in-law offered to help him heat the milk up in the kitchen; he hadn't thought she'd leave the kid's sight. Still, they hurried off together and left Graham holding the baby, who continued to scream. Bertrand took the seat next to him and carefully shifted her into his arms, rocking her gently to try to soothe her.  
"No good, I'm afraid. If it's food they're after, only food will quieten them down. Keep talking, lad, we never get to hear all these exciting stories of yours."

* * *

His Mum was a whirlwind of cheerful efficiency, years of practice showing through as she took over Robin's task for him, chatting as she went.  
"So, this is all a bit sudden."  
"You can't tell me you're not thrilled." He could hear the doubt in his voice, though, an anxious note he wished wasn't there.  
"Oh, Robin, of course I'm thrilled, she's beautiful! Are you happy, though, love?" He shrugged, but he was sure his mother could see the tiny smile playing at the corner of his lips.  
"We've only had her for about an hour. Well, an hour where she wasn't in serious danger. But yeah, I... I didn't think I'd be so glad Vlad said yes. Honestly, I just wish he'd said yes properly, I'm scared I'll get too attached to her and then they'll take her back and give her to some other clan."

Graham appeared in the doorway with a wry smile.  
"Vlad's your friend, he's not going to take her away without a good reason."  
"Vlad might not, but the High Council-"  
"I thought you said they liked you?"  
"Well, they do, I mean-"  
"Well then. Now, if you creep in there now you'll be just in time to see your husband panicking about what took you so long."  
"What took us so long? We've hardly-" But Robin simply took the bottle from his mother and left her to bluster as he stuck his head cautiously around the living room door.

"Shhh, shh. It's coming, Robin's going to go and get it for you and then you won't be hungry any more. I know, I know, you were hungry for _ages_ before we found you, but we found you some food then, didn't we? Yeah, and we won't ever let you starve." He looked up, then, and spotted the three Branaghs smiling at him from the doorway. If vampires could blush, Robin was sure he would have, but instead he just held a hand out for the bottle. "Or we _might_ , apparently, if everyone's too busy staring at me to hand over your food, you poor thing." He sounded a little defensive, as if waiting for the mockery to begin in earnest, and Robin hurried to hand him the bottle and settle at his side, slipping an arm around him and pressing a gentle kiss to his neck.  
"You're just too lovely not to stand and appreciate sometimes." He did feel guilty, though, and turned his attention to the baby as she began to drink. "Sorry, little one. I didn't mean to keep you waiting."  
"You can't keep calling her 'little one' forever," his mum observed from the doorway, "why don't you take that box of name books with you when you go?"  
"Oh, it's alright, we'll just look at them here-"  
"You're showing your inexperience, Rob. It takes _ages_ to name a baby." His dad clapped him on the back. "Best take them home with you, I'd say."

Twenty minutes of fussing over the baby later, his mum was yawning, and Robin thought it was probably time to get the baby back to bed anyway. Goodbyes were exchanged, and Bertrand insisted on hefting the box of books, entrusting the child to Robin until they got back in the car. Of course, it took them a further ten minutes to say goodbye – in the end, it was only the baby getting cold and starting to whimper again that forced the proud new grandparents to let go of the little family and wave them off.

Bertrand, curled protectively around their new daughter again, summed it up pretty well as they pulled up at the garage where Vlad kept his small fleet of cars for estate residents' use.  
"She's going to be spoilt rotten whenever we take her round there, isn't she?" Robin shrugged.  
"Probably. I'll take the books this time." And with that, he had the box in his arms and was heading off down the dark corridor towards their home, leaving Bertrand to wrap the baby in all the blankets he'd brought, swing the bag onto his shoulder, and carry his precious burden back to bed.

They stood for longer than strictly necessary, watching over the sleeping child, but then it occurred to Robin that they might do well to sleep before she woke up and needed them. Settling into their coffin, he hesitated before whispering to Bertrand.  
"Do you want to give it a rest, tonight? I'd understand, it's been a long day, and I'm sure it won't hurt-"  
"No." Bertrand took a deep, unnecessary breath and held it for a moment before letting it out again. "No, I'm alright with it if you are."  
"'Course I am, silly. Go on then, roll over." Bertrand settled on his front, tense but nowhere near as tightly-wound as he would have been even just a few days before, and allowed Robin to run his hands gently over the bare skin of his shoulders, down his back, until a sudden tension made him pull back. "Alright, love? Do you want me to stop?"  
"No," It was barely a whimper, "no, I have to be alright. Especially now." So Robin kept going, shifting his body down to press gentle kisses to his husband's shoulders before pulling away.  
"I think that's enough for tonight. You don't have to be magically better, idiot. But you _are_ getting stronger, and I'm so proud of you." There came a cry from the other room. "You sleep. I'll go and sort her out."  
"You'll come back, right?" He stopped, halfway through pulling his trousers on, to give Bertrand a long, searching look. Sometimes, when they tried to work on Bertrand's issues, he got a little vulnerable. It seemed this was one of those times.  
"Alright, change of plan. You're going to come with me and we'll look after her together this time, yeah? And then I'll hold you while you go to sleep."

* * *

Bertrand had fallen asleep in Robin's arms, as promised, but they'd been woken by crying again barely an hour later and Robin had gone to deal with whatever the problem was while Bertrand tried to get some more sleep. The next time their new foster-daughter cried, it was his turn and he was off like a shot to see what she needed. As it turned out, she seemed to be mostly lonely – they'd have to get her a teddy of some sort, he supposed – and settled the moment he picked her up to give her a cuddle. He moved downstairs to commandeer an armchair and picked up a baby-name book to amuse himself while he sat with her.

He woke up to find Robin sat next to him, stroking his hair absent-mindedly, buried in another book of names. The baby was sprawled across his chest, apparently sleeping peacefully, and Bertrand didn't quite dare move.  
"Ione?"

Bertrand blinked sleepily at him. "No, Bran, it's Bertrand-"  
"I meant for the baby. Just throwing some suggestions out there, now you're awake. Morning, by the way."  
"Morning." Carefully, so as not to disturb the child, he shifted into a sitting position and shook his head. "Not Ione. I had to stake a Chosen One pretender in Greece once, he wasn't pleasant." Robin recognised the tone of voice and didn't pry.  
"Alright. You had a book on your face when I came downstairs, any that leapt out?" Bertrand shrugged and picked the book up again.

"Jacquelyn?"  
"Sabine?" Robin countered, and Bertrand paused, looking thoughtful.  
"Named for the peacemaking women of the Sabine tribe?" But Robin shrugged; it seemed he hadn't been aware of that little snippet of information.  
"It'd sound like she was named for the Truce, wouldn't it? I... do you think we can steer clear of political names?" Bertrand nodded. "How about..." He flicked through a few pages. "Lilian? Apparently it's derived from Elizabeth, Mum'd be over the moon-"  
"I like it," Bertrand agreed, and Robin made a big show of writing it down on the page of the notepad beside him. "What have you got written down?"  
"Um... Marine, Jacquelyn, and Lilian. Can you think of any more?" Bertrand smiled softly.  
"Did you choose Marine because it's French?" Robin nodded sheepishly. "I know others, if you're actively looking for French options." He paused, and Robin sat up a little straighter as if he could sense the weight of Bertrand's next words. "I've been thinking... I thought perhaps... we could consider Merletta."

Robin frowned thoughtfully for a moment, then set his notepad aside and shifted closer to his little family.  
"Merletta. It's pretty. Why do you seem so nervous about it?" He hesitated, trying to find the words to explain.  
"It's French, it's from... _merle_ means blackbird, so it sort of fits with-"  
"-with Robin," his husband finished, sounding slightly awed. "And it's French, so it's not like you'd be forgotten... it'd be like she always had a part of both of us with her, even if Vlad takes her back." It was Bertrand's turn to frown.  
"Are you worried that he will? Because I really don't think it's likely, unless we're absolutely terrible at this..."  
"Merletta du Fortunesa," Robin murmured to himself, obviously trying it out, as he shifted still closer to Bertrand. It was probably the proximity, as opposed to the name, that made the baby open her eyes, but it seemed like a sign as she gazed up at them both. "I like it."  
"Merletta _Lilian_ du Fortunesa," Bertrand amended quietly, "do you think?" Robin nodded, leaning in slightly to talk to their young charge.  
"How about it, little one?" She wriggled contentedly and beat a tiny fist against Bertrand's chest. "Merletta Lilian it is, then. Capello, for now."  
"Mm," Bertrand agreed, catching Merletta's hand in his own with a smile, "for now."


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello all - sorry for the delay, I've not been feeling too well so I sort of let everything slide.**

 **Reviews are love.**

* * *

It took less than two weeks for Merletta to become Merle, and only another month before she was Mel. Those first six weeks seemed, to Robin, to be almost entirely sleepless, and he was sure Bertrand was feeling the same way. But they wouldn't change a thing; they were happy.

"Hey, hey, Mellie, what's the matter?" Bertrand scooped her out of the cot – the one they'd bought was small enough to keep in their room, which seemed to keep her happier – and Robin propped himself up in the coffin to watch their interaction. He didn't think he'd ever tire of watching Bertrand with their foster-daughter, no matter how exhausted he actually was. "Come on, little bird, your daddy's awake, let's go and bother him, shall we?"  
"You could never bother me." He took the baby from Bertrand so he could climb in beside them. "Well, maybe when you cry at 4am I'm a _little_ bothered, but that's not your fault. If you need us, little one, you scream the house down, OK?" Bertrand rested his head on his husband's shoulder.  
"What about me, do I bother you?" He pretended to think about it.  
"Hmm... I like you bothering me. Don't I, Merley-Merle?" She gurgled and grabbed his ear. She definitely had some kind of _obsession_ with grabbing his ears.

There was a knock on the door and Bertrand threw a shirt on before going down to answer it. Robin stayed where he was for all of about ten seconds before shifting the child to rest more securely against his shoulder and carefully standing.  
"Come on, Mel, let's see who's here." He froze at the bottom of the stairs as he realised Bertrand was standing at the door, exchanging greetings with none other than the Grand High Vampire himself. "Oh, no." He whispered it, barely audible even to himself, and tried to make a break for the relative safety of upstairs. It was light outside, just barely, so there was no escaping the house, but perhaps if they hid in the guest room... if Merletta could stay quiet, perhaps Vlad wouldn't find them; perhaps he'd give up and go away. But he'd barely reached the landing when Vlad, passing the bottom of the stairs, called out to him.  
"Hi, Robin, you might as well come down; I'm here about Merletta."

That had been exactly what Robin was afraid of; he clutched his daughter a little closer and took his time collecting her little teddy from their bedroom before reluctantly making his way back downstairs, whispering soothingly to her all the while.  
"Whatever he says, Mellie, you know you're our precious baby girl and we'll always love you, yeah?" He could hear his voice wobbling and struggled to keep it together, for her sake. "And you can hang onto teddy here, and keep him with you, and he'll look after you. And we'll never be far away, and your new family are going to love you and spoil you rotten because who could resist that little face? Here, now," he told her as he reached the living room, "here's Bertrand and Uncle Vlad! He's come to see you..." He trailed off, hoping Vlad wouldn't correct him about the purpose of his visit.

"Alright, Merle? Look, you two, I know it's early, but, well, I thought we might as well get this sorted as soon as possible. As you know, this fostering thing was only ever temporary." If he noticed the way Bertrand inched along the sofa towards Robin and slipped an arm around him, he didn't comment. "I've been keeping an eye on things with little Merletta here, and I think it's time she got a permanent home with proper parents who can give her the best possible unlife." Robin tightened his hold on the baby, just a fraction, and she grizzled softly at him. He tried desperately to think, to come up with some reason compelling enough to make Vlad change his mind and leave her in their care. "So if you could just sign here..."

The Grand High Vampire pulled out some official-looking paperwork and placed it on the coffee table; Bertrand leant forward to inspect it, but Robin couldn't stay quiet any more, not when they were being asked to sign away their beloved foster-daughter.  
"You're just going to take-?" Bertrand touched his arm and gestured at the documents in front of them. As Robin glanced down, the word _adoption_ caught his eye.

 _ADOPTION AGREEMENT_

 _We, the undersigned, hereby accept full and binding responsibility for the foundling_ Merletta Lilian du Fortunesa (formerly Capello) _, and adopt her into our clan. We,_ Bertrand du Fortunesa _and_ Robin du Fortunesa _, shall henceforth be, in all appropriate respects, her parents, and she shall be subject to Clan_ du Fortunesa _'s standard regulations with regards to inheritance, succession, and marriage. We hereby declare that it is our intention to raise her as our own, and care for her every need at least until she reaches maturity, in accordance with vampiric law. This adoption is approved by_ Grand High Vampire Vladimir Dracula III, Chosen One _, who also signs as witness below._

"...You're not taking her back." He blinked at Vlad, who seemed surprised by the statement. "We... She's really going to be ours forever?"  
"Don't tell me you're having second thoughts-"  
"You _git_!" He bundled the baby into Bertrand's arms and reached across to thump his ruler in the arm, treason be damned. "I thought you were going to take her away, all that stuff about proper parents and permanent homes and-"  
"But you _are_ proper parents. I thought you realised – why would I take her back like that, with no warning? We're friends, Rob, I'd have given you a heads-up."  
"I assume I have your agreement if I sign this, then?" Robin glanced across at his husband to find him beaming and trying to keep a pen out of reach of their curious child.  
"Yes. _Yes_ , yes. I have to sign too, right? Sign it quick, before Vlad changes his mind or I hit him again."  
"Is this why you've been avoiding me recently?" Vlad sounded _hurt_. Robin hung his head, glad to be able to stall for time just long enough to sign the papers.  
"...Yeah." He reached across and took the baby back from Bertrand, holding her close as Bertrand simply wrapped his arms around Robin instead, pressing an affectionate kiss to his neck. "I didn't... She's _ours_. I didn't want-"  
"I wouldn't just take her away from you. You're good parents, you've been nothing but good for her-" Vlad cut himself off, reaching for the pen and adding his name. "Congratulations," he said, looking straight at Bertrand, but his eyes seemed sad when they turned to Robin, "I always knew you'd get to keep her if you still wanted her. _That's_ what the trial period was for. If you want to invite anyone to the Blood Mirror ceremony, that's fine – I thought we might fit it in tomorrow afternoon. You know where I am if you need anything." And then he was gone, leaving the du Fortunesa family alone.

Bertrand squeezed his husband a little tighter and Robin snuggled into the embrace, still clinging onto Merletta.  
"I thought he was going to..."  
"I know, love, I know." He didn't seem angry. That was good. "I told you, though, Vlad's our friend. He would have warned us if we were doing something wrong."  
"I just... she's really ours?" Bertrand reached over to brush a tuft of soft hair away from their daughter's little face, and kissed Robin's cheek on the way back.  
"She's really ours. And after tomorrow it won't even matter if Vlad finds out her daddy's been reading her _Johnny Fang, PI_ as bedtime stories. Nothing he can do about it once she's added to our Mirror."  
" _Blood and Justice_ isn't even gory, not like _Fangs of Fury_ -"  
"I know, love, I know. You just get a bit excited about the crimefighting sometimes and wake her up more than she already was-"  
"But then her other dad comes and makes things better-"  
"I don't want to be her other dad," Bertrand interrupted, "I want... I don't want to just be 'the other one'."  
"Of course you're not just- what do you want to be called then?"  
"... _Son_ _père._ Papa."

Robin grinned at him.  
"You're _so_ French." Bertrand preened a little at that; he was very proud to be French after a childhood of being seen as 'the Italian boy'. "It's hot." He leant in, intending to press a kiss below Bertrand's ear... and then, right on cue, the child in his arms drew a deep breath and let it out in a scream. Bertrand had taken her before Robin got over the initial shock of the volume.  
"Who's my lovely healthy girl? You're so much stronger than when we met you, Mellie, well done. Now, what are you screaming for, little bird? Hungry? Tired? Or do you just not want your Daddy and your Papa to get all soppy and romantic?" He lifted her a little higher and sniffed. "Oh. We'll be back."

Soppy and romantic was hardly the problem, Robin thought to himself. They were always soppy and romantic, there was no stopping that even with a child in the mix – if anything, they were more in love than ever. What Merletta _did_ manage to prevent her dads from having, more often than not, was any kind of sex life. When she wasn't physically present or crying out for them – which of course they didn't resent her for – they were simply too tired to do anything but collapse into the coffin and sleep. He couldn't remember the last time he'd touched Bertrand in any more intimate way than the exercises Ingrid had set them; simple, gentle, chaste touches down his back and occasionally even, if Bertrand was having a good day, a little way down the backs of his legs.

His husband returned, clean baby in tow, and settled beside him with her again.  
"D'you think Mum'll take her for a few hours some time, if we ask nicely enough?" Bertrand looked up from their sleeping child with a frown.  
"I don't think we need to worry about that – it's more a question of whether she'd give her back. Why do you ask?" Robin smiled tiredly.  
"Not telling in front of the baby." Bertrand's eyes widened and he leant over to nip affectionately at Robin's ear.  
" _Oh_. Yes. We should ask. After the Mirror ceremony- and we'll have to keep her with us for a few days after that, but the weekend-"  
"I'll ask Mum when I invite her to the ceremony. She'll be thrilled. Is there anyone else you want to invite?"  
"I think Malik and Ingrid deserve the chance to turn us down, don't you?"  
"Definitely. Who knows, maybe one of them will even come."

* * *

The Blood Mirror ceremony took place the next afternoon. Bertrand could hardly bear to prick Merletta's tiny finger in order to let her blood fall onto the glass and be absorbed, but then they all felt that warm-cold ripple and she stopped crying, staring at them both with big, wide eyes.  
"Welcome to the clan, kiddo," Robin told her, and he would swear afterwards that she smiled at him then.

After the ceremony, Robin went in search of his parents and left Bertrand holding the baby. Not for long, though; of the few people they'd invited, Ingrid and Malik had been the last he'd have expected to want to meet little Merletta for themselves, but here they were all of a sudden.  
"Look at her, isn't she a lovely little cutie-pie?" Ingrid seemed to realise that she'd started talking in a baby voice as soon as she'd plucked her out of Bertrand's arms, and promptly handed her to Malik.  
"You're so tiny!" He told Merletta, and shifted her closer against himself as she began to grizzle. "No, it's OK, Uncle Malik's got you, I won't drop you. Why does everyone always think I'm going to drop babies?"

Though neither of them took their eyes off of Malik and the baby for a second, Ingrid and Bertrand backed away a little to talk privately.  
"How are you doing, Bertrand?"  
"Yeah, I'm alright... We're keeping up those exercises, and I'm a little calmer now. Since we've had Merle, though, it's not like I've been put in many situations that would unsettle me, so I can't really tell you much about my progress."  
"Hm. The exercises are going well, though?"  
"Sometimes he can get as far as touching my hips and the sides of my legs, so... it's better than it was."  
"I'm glad to hear it. And if you ever need to talk, you know where I am, or I can come to you." She hesitated; he hadn't seen Ingrid _hesitate_ in a long time, and it usually meant trouble. "At least for a few more months, then you'll have to come to me." He frowned.  
"Big event coming up?" He hadn't been aware of one, but then he'd been so preoccupied with Mel-  
"You could say that." She took a deep, futile breath, then lowered her voice even further. "I won't be able to fly long distances in my condition."

It took him a moment to work it out, and then his eyes widened. Suddenly, the way Malik was behaving with Merletta made a lot more sense.  
"You're- and Malik-?"  
"He doesn't even know yet. You can't tell him. I just... I wanted to see..." They both watched as he bounced the little girl up and down, murmuring nonsense. Bertrand wasn't sure he'd even noticed they'd moved. "It's me I'm worried about now, though. What if I can't-?"  
"You can. Of course you can, you're Ingrid Dracula. When has there ever been something you couldn't do if you wanted to?"  
"Thanks." She gazed silently at her boyfriend and the baby for a few long moments. "You're right, of course. I can do anything I want."  
"And you want this?" She hesitated again.  
"Is it as hard as they say it is?" Bertrand shrugged.  
"See Robin take off earlier? He went to ask his mum if she could take Mellie for a few hours so we can catch up on sleep and, well, everything else. It can be exhausting, looking after that one. She's worth all of it, though. It's pretty difficult, but if we can do it..."  
"You've got Robin's parents, though, even Chloe and Jonno. Malik and I-"  
"You've got your dad, you've got Vlad, and you've got us. If you want this, Ingrid..."  
"What if he leaves me?" Her eyes were wide and scared, and he realised they'd finally reached the real root of the problem.  
"Then he doesn't deserve you, and at least you'll know. You need to talk this over together, as soon as possible." He glanced across at Malik. "Tell him while you're here, and if either of you needs some space, we still have a guest room for a while."

It was a rather pensive Ingrid who relieved Malik of the little squirming bundle of Merle and frowned down at her.  
"Watch out," Bertrand warned her, "She likes to grab ears if she can get to them."  
"Could have told me," Malik grumbled, but he was smiling all the same. "Look at them, though," he added in an undertone to Bertrand. "She just looks so natural with her." Sure enough, Ingrid, for all her uncertainty, was holding the baby close and rocking gently, soothing the beginnings of a crying fit.  
"Actually," Bertrand realised, "Mel's probably about to scream anyway because she hasn't seen either of her dads in a while, so she's doing really well-" An anguished infant howl rent the air and Robin appeared out of nowhere to reassure both Merletta and Ingrid. The latter tried to hand her charge back, but Robin insisted that she keep her, simply leaning over to make a fuss of his daughter.

Merletta grabbed at her father's ear and promptly fell silent, which was more than could be said for Robin.  
"Ow, ow ow ow ow _why_ , Mellie-?"


	8. Chapter 8

**People. I am so, so sorry. I got distracted, then _published_ , then I've spent the last 18 months looking after my very, very sick nan. But! If anyone still cares, here is a chapter. I hope you like it.**

 **The more observant of you will probably have noticed that I've now published this chapter twice. Hopefully this time it's not completely incomprehensible. Thank you to Hellfire000 for pointing out the hideous visible-code problem!**

 **Disclaimer: Oh, please. If I owned _Young Dracula_ and neglected it for this long, it would now belong to the RSPCA.**

That night, Robin was woken by a hammering at the door. He'd barely hauled himself to his feet, ready to berate whoever thought that banging on the door of a young child at - he glanced at the clock - four o'clock in the morning - was a good idea, when Mellie began to wail.

"I'll see to her, you get the door," Bertrand grumbled, "if I go down there somebody's going to die."

"Noted." Robin raced down the stairs and flung the door open. "What the fog do you think you're-? /Malik?"

"Oh, blood, I forgot. Did I wake her up? Oh, no, I did. See? I'm useless, I can't do this."

"Do what?"

"Babies. I can't be around a baby. I'll screw it up."

"Malik, I don't have a clue what you're on about."

"I do." Bertrand was standing at the top of the stairs, looking as if he'd dressed in a hurry and cradling Mellie, still grizzling, in his arms. "Ingrid told you something life-changing, didn't she, Malik?" The boy just nodded. "And what did you say to her?"

"I... I didn't, I just ran. You can help me, can't you, Bertrand? You always know what to do. Just tell me what to do."

"Robin, I need you to go to Ingrid at the main house. Tell her this idiot is safe, and remind her that he's a complete moron when it comes to feelings and he'll sort himself out eventually. She might need someone to talk to."

"But-"

"Go on. I'll talk to Malik."

"And Mellie-?"

"She'll settle, I'll put her in her Moses basket. Ingrid will want your support."

"That'll be a first," Robin grumbled, but he bent to kiss Mellie's tiny forehead, kissed Bertrand for good measure, and headed out into the darkness of Vlad's palatial estate in his pyjamas and slippers. Ingrid probably wouldn't want to talk to him, but if Bertrand thought that she'd need somebody... Well, Bertrand tended to be right, in Robin's experience.

The guard at the front door to the main house stopped him, which was only to be expected, and was about to insist that he had to call up to Ingrid's room and check she was expecting him when he shrugged.

"Oh, well, did you say Bertrand du Fortunesa sent you?"

"He did, yeah."

"Well, he knows what he's talking about. I'm sure he had a good reason to send you. Go up, I'll call to let her know you're on your way."

"Are you sure?"

"Bertrand's a Clan Leader. I'm not about to argue with him, or with you. Truth be told, you two scare the living daylights out of me."

"Is that so?" Robin raised an eyebrow. "You're new here, aren't you...?"

"Bosko," the guard supplied. "Dalibor Bosko. Yeah, I only started here a few weeks back."

"Well then, Bosko, you can be forgiven for not knowing that I'm a harmless idiot. You're right about my husband, though. He's the most terrifying and dangerous vampire I know, including Vlad. And he's always right." With that, Robin sailed into the palace and began hurrying along the corridors towards the second-scariest vampire he'd ever known.

Ingrid opened the door the tiniest crack and peered through, but even that glimpse of her eye was enough to show Robin she'd been crying.

"Go away, Branagh."

"Can't, I'm afraid. Orders from him indoors. Besides, you look like you could do with a good rant, and I'm an excellent listener."

Ingrid hesitated for a long moment.

"...Have you seen Malik in your travels?"

"He's at ours, spouting gibberish at Bertrand and coming across as a bit of a headcase, to be honest with you. Hence me being sent over here in my jammies. I don't know what they're talking about, but Bertrand seemed to think you might want a chat, too. Unless he was just trying to get rid of me."

"No." Ingrid swung the door open and stood aside to let him in. "Grab a blanket, you look frozen. But no, he wasn't. I do want to talk to someone."

"Will I do?"

"We go back a long way," she admitted, "so you're pretty much the perfect person to talk to. Besides, you're not related to me but you do know my family, so... yeah. Yeah, I'll talk to you, if you'll listen."

"Course I will. What's up?"

* * *

"She told me she's pregnant, Bertrand. She- and she says it's mine- I mean, I believe her, it's not that, it's just… well, it can't be, can it? How can I be a dad? That's if she even wants it-"

"Malik. Sit down, take a deep breath, and hold Mellie while I fetch her Moses basket."

"I can't-"

"You will." Bertrand dumped Merletta, still grizzling slightly, into his arms and went to fetch the crib. When he returned, as he'd hoped, Malik was bouncing the baby up and down gently, as if he wasn't even aware of the motion, and Mellie was actually calming, which Bertrand had been afraid she wouldn't, with neither of her dads present. "See? Like when you held her earlier. No drama." He relieved the boy of the child and settled Mellie in her basket while Malik took a seat. Bertrand sat down opposite him and took a deep breath. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I think she's messing with me, actually."

"Messing-?"

"Yeah. She's not really pregnant, she just knew I'd freak out and she wanted a good laugh." Malik's brow furrowed as he took in Bertrand's unimpressed expression. "Or, er, she wanted to know how I'd react if…?" Bertrand shook his head minutely, but Malik saw the movement all the same. "...Fog. You already knew, didn't you?"

"She mentioned it earlier. She didn't mean to, I think it just sort of slipped out."

"So she's not joking? Oh, blood. I can't be a dad. I can't, that's not- What?"

Bertrand tried to contain the tiny smile that threatened to make an appearance; the last thing Malik needed was to feel as though he was being laughed at.

"I don't think anyone in the history of the world has ever felt ready to be a dad. Look at me and Robin - we chose to take Mellie, and it's still crazy to me that we've got a baby. She's ours. Of course it's a big thing, of course it's scary. But you need to figure something out, because once this sort of thing starts… well, you've got a bit of a time limit, I suppose."

"That doesn't make me feel better, Bertrand!"

"Right. Well, sorry, but it's true. The sooner you face up to it, the less stressed you'll be later on. Did Ingrid mention whether she even wants to have the baby?"

"Er… no. I don't think so. I didn't really hear much after she told me she was pregnant. Oh, blood. What if she expects me to make the decision for her?"

"That doesn't sound like Ingrid," Bertrand reminded him gently, "but she'll want to know how you feel about it all. So do you have any idea how you feel about the situation?"

"I don't know what to think. I'm just… it's come out of nowhere. I don't even know when it happened, or… or how long I have to get my head around things. I'm scared, Bertrand. What if I say the wrong thing?"

"I imagine Ingrid's scared too, Malik. Perhaps even more scared than you-"

"Ingrid's the toughest vampire I've ever met. No offence. She's definitely braver than me."

"I didn't say she wasn't. But this is frightening for her, too. You know her family's not much better than yours, she's bound to have doubts. Plus the whole… you know… birth bit."

"Oh, blood. Oh, blood, she'd have to- no. We can't do that. I can't lose her, Bertrand, I can't. The risks are too-"

"The risks are much lower now than they were when we were younger, Malik. That's not what you need to worry about, when it comes to losing her. What you need to worry about is that right now, she's scared and you're not there. Everything else is for the two of you to talk over together."

Malik stared at him stupidly for a moment, and then Bertrand saw understanding dawn on his face.

"Oh, blood. I just ran out on her."

* * *

"Did Malik tell you what the problem was?" Ingrid winced. "No, not the problem. I'm not going to call it that, that's not fair."

"He didn't say anything that made any sense," Robin told her, "and to be honest, neither are you. It's making my head hurt. If you don't want to tell me about it, that's fine, but I can't handle riddles at this time of the night."

"I- sorry. Yeah. You know Malik and I have been seeing each other, a bit? Just… on-and-off, no strings, that sort of thing?"

Robin managed to keep a straight face with difficulty; he'd never seen Malik so wrapped up in one person, and Ingrid had certainly made him quite at home in her palace. Still, if they wanted to pretend it was just a casual fling, then he wouldn't argue with them. "I remember it coming up, yeah."

"Well, I'm not sure what happened, exactly, but we must have slipped up somewhere because…" Ingrid closed her eyes and took a deep breath she didn't really need. "I'm pregnant."

"You're-? Oh. Oh! Wow. Congratulations." Robin's brain caught up with his mouth and he frowned. "Or… not congratulations? How do you feel about it?"

"Honestly?" Ingrid sighed. "I'm terrified. I've known for about a week, and I wasn't sure I should even tell Malik, I wasn't sure if I should go through with it. There are ways - but I don't know. If… the- the baby… it would be part me, and part Malik. I don't want to waste those genetics - think how beautiful that kid would be." She closed her eyes again. "It's… more than that. I think… I think I'd like to meet this baby, even be its mum. And then I saw Malik with Merle today and he was… It was like he actually had a clue what he was doing. Not like I thought. Not like me. And I thought maybe we could do this together. It's just… it's a pretty big string. But I thought maybe he'd want to know about his child."

"And… didn't he?"

"I sat him down, and I told him, and he just… froze up. It's like he went into shock… and then he ran. Typical Malik. Of all the fathers for my firstborn - that is, if I even - but I had to go and pick a flighty street-fang who runs at the first sign of trouble."

"You weren't planning to have a baby, were you?" Robin frowned thoughtfully.

"Obviously not. I'm the Grand High Vampire's sister, I need some stability before I drag a child into my mess. But then it happened and I don't know what to do, Robin. I can't do this alone. Maybe I can't do it at all. I mean, look at my parents. Blood, I should just stop this while I still can."

"Is that what you really want, Ingrid? Forget your parents, you're worth ten of them, and forget Malik for a second. Right now this is your body and your unlife we're talking about, so… what do you want to do?"

Ingrid fell silent for some time, considering the question carefully, hands balled into tight fists to grip the blanket she'd thrown over her lap. "I don't know. I thought I could handle it, even if Malik- even if he reacted badly, I thought we could work it out somehow. We could make a decision between us and we'd be alright, whether that meant breaking up, or having the baby, or not… I thought we could talk about it. We talk about everything, these days. Confidential information aside," she added quickly, and Robin made a dismissive gesture to show he'd understood. "But he didn't react at all, he just ran away."

"He was probably just surprised, and scared. He was asking Bertrand to tell him what to do, the last I heard."

"Thank blood he's with Bertrand - if this threatened his revamp, I'd never forgive myself. But… well, he's right, isn't he? To be frightened. This-" She placed a hand on her stomach, and Robin wondered if she was even aware that she was doing it. "No matter what, this changes everything."

"Not everything." The voice from the doorway was a little shaky, but Ingrid lit up as she heard it. Robin looked up to see Malik standing on the threshold, as if he wasn't sure if he was welcome inside the room. "It doesn't change how I feel about you."

Ingrid stood quickly, dropping her hands to her sides, and tried to pull together her most dignified, disinterested expression.

"And how is that?"

"I love you, you moron." Malik had never looked so terrified, but he met Ingrid's eyes and shrugged. "I thought you knew."

"You thought-? You're lucky I like you, you know, or I'd have to kill you."

"You like me?" He seemed hurt; Ingrid relented.

"I love you too. But don't ever run away like that again. I thought you were leaving me."

"I'm sorry." He moved forward and took Ingrid's hands in his, then seemed to realise that Robin was still in the room. "Er, sorry to kick you out, but… do you mind? I think we need to talk."

Robin slipped away and left them to it.

* * *

Bertrand knew Robin didn't need to be dragged over to an armchair by the fire and swaddled in blankets when he came in from the cold, but that didn't stop him doing it. Robin, for his part, only resisted for long enough to check on their sleeping infant before giving in. When Bertrand was satisfied that his husband was sufficiently warmed, he allowed himself to be gently pulled down onto Robin's lap and held tight.

"So, you knew, huh?"

"Only since this afternoon. It wasn't my place to tell you."

"No, it's fine." Robin, it seemed, had more pressing questions in mind. "What did you say to Malik to calm him down?"

"I'm not sure I did calm him down. Just reminded him that he and Ingrid need to face it together."

"Well, it worked. Although he still looked absolutely terrified when he came back."

"Hm. I'm not surprised. How was Ingrid?"

"Well, you were right. She definitely needed to talk."


End file.
